Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of microelectronics, in particular, to digital data transfer and may be used to exchange data between users of electronic devices, which may include cell phones, smartphones, tablet PCs, laptops, etc., using additional electronic data exchange units adapted for user wearing. More specifically, the invention discloses a method of data exchange between such electronic units initiated by users' gestures followed by data sending to users' electronic devices, data storage, processing, etc. In particular, the invention claimed may be applied at conferences, workshops and similar events to exchange contact details and other data between users, who wear electronic data units, e.g. wrist-worn units, and have a smartphone or any other similar device with a wireless communication module.
Description of Related Art
Similar methods are known in the art, and the closest to the invention claimed are described below:
Application EP 2302881 A1 published on Mar. 30, 2011 contains information on a method and a system for data exchange (including contact details) between mobile devices using NFC protocol when user devices are in proximity and repositioning thereof is captured by an accelerometer connected to a processor of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,219,028 B1 published on Jul. 10, 2012 relates to data exchange between mobile devices when pre-defined events of various levels are captured by an accelerometer against a change in device positioning.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,370,501 B2 published on Feb. 5, 2013 describes a method of data exchange between devices when the search for devices to exchange data is triggered by a specific gesture of pre-defined gestures and establishing connection with those devices, to which the gesture is addressed to.
Application US 2004/0003133 A1 published on Jan. 1, 2004 relates to a method of communication between devices based on establishing connection between devices when an identical repositioning thereof is captured (in particular, at handshaking).
Application US 2011/0081923 A1 published on Apr. 7, 2011 also discloses a method of data transfer from a mobile device by an accelerometer which identifies a specific movement over a screen of a mobile device and sends data in response.
Application US 2011/0088002 A1 published on Apr. 14, 2011 discloses a method of content transfer from one mobile device to another using a software application installed thereon, that captures device repositioning, described as pre-defined movements, and transfers data to the device.
Application US 2012/0128154 A1 published on May 24, 2012 discloses a method of establishing encrypted connection between devices, including data exchange with keys in audio spectrum in close proximity of devices, and establishing connection between thereof after key exchange.
Application US 2012/0206262 A1 published on Aug. 16, 2012 discloses data exchange between devices, wherein an event, common for two devices, such as handshaking, triggers identification of devices and data exchange therebetween.
Application US 2012/0317024 A1 published on Dec. 13, 2012 discloses a device having a set of sensors, including an accelerometer, which are used to capture a change in a specific parameter of the parameter set and to transfer data whenever those parameters coincide.
Application US 2013/0169571 A1 published on Jun. 4, 2013 discloses a method of data exchange between mobile devices preferably by gestures on touchscreens and a separate server to pair the two devices.
International Application WO 2011/119499 A2 published on Sep. 29, 2011 contains information about a method of certain movement capturing of a device by motion sensors and receiving an incoming signal and performing actions (in particular, data transfer) depending on the time between motion capture and signal receipt.
International Application WO 2014/205201 A1 published on Dec. 24, 2014 discloses a method description of data exchange between two devices when they are in physical proximity by capturing specific physical parameters by each device provided the parameters are stored thereon.
International Application WO 2015/099954 A1 published on Jul. 2, 2015 discloses data exchange between two devices via wireless communication channels when data, including an identifier, are sent from either device.
Methods of data exchange between users via mobile devices being in close proximity to each other and performing specific gestures to initiate data transfer are known in the art from Lars Erik Holmquist, Friedemann Mattern, Bernt Schiele, Petteri Alahuhta, Michael Beigl and Hans-W. Gellersen: Smart-Its Friends: A Technique for Users to Easily Establish Connections between Smart Artefacts (published on Oct. 16, 2001), Nicolai Marquardt, Till Ballendat, Sebastian Boring, Saul Greenberg, Ken Hinckley: Gradual Engagement: Facilitating Information Exchange between Digital Devices as a Function of Proximity (published in Proceedings of the 2012 ACM international conference on Interactive tabletops and surfaces, ACM New York, N.Y., USA ©2012, Pages 31-40).
Application EP 2813921 A1 published on Dec. 17, 2014 discloses a communication service method and devices, based on data exchange between devices, being in users' hands by establishing a communication channel between the devices when the first and second device repositioning factors of a group of pre-defined positions (e.g. handshaking) are captured (specification, [0073]).
The closest to the proposed solution is a data exchange method, disclosed in International Application WO 2015/094220 A1 published on Jun. 25, 2015, which discloses the data exchange process between user-worn devices in response to capturing an event pre-defined as a data exchange request when devices come in proximity. The data exchange process between identical electronic devices is triggered by pre-search for user electronic device by another similar device for further data exchange, capturing a greeting event, in particular, by handshaking, followed by sending a message of other electronic device identification, waiting for confirmation from the other electronic device, selecting data by a user on his/her electronic device to be transferred, transferring data to another electronic device, receiving a data transfer request from the other electronic device, and transferring data from the other electronic device upon request confirmation. A handshaking event is captured in two steps: device positioning in certain proximity and users' greeting by a greeting event, in particular, by handshaking.
All solutions described hereinabove allow to exchange data between user electronic devices; however these solutions require either a software application pre-installed and run on a user electronic device followed by specific actions (gestures etc.), or a pre-search for similar devices in a certain radius, identification of devices intended to exchange data therebetween and subsequent data exchange.